


Dear Miss Jacquelyn

by MeanGreenThing



Category: A Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Grief/Mourning, Im Sorry But Also Not Sorry, Im mostly sorry for myself because im crying as i type, Letters, Other, someone save me pls what am i doing to myself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-23
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-10-14 21:10:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17515943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeanGreenThing/pseuds/MeanGreenThing
Summary: Jacquelyn comes home to find a note sitting on her desk, from Larry’s mothers. She is pleasantly surprised by the sudden letter, but that pleasant feeling fades very quickly





	Dear Miss Jacquelyn

**Author's Note:**

> O BOY, y'all are gonna hate me for this one

Jacquelyn huffed as the wind blew her hair in her face, blocking her vision as she made her way down to the post office. Normally, she would be making the trip in a car, but it was in the shop. She observed the streets, cars were stuck in traffic, and around her, people bustled past, snow sticking to their hair and coats and everything. A fine layer of snow covered the sidewalk, crunching with every step she took.

She had played in the snow a lot when she was little, She’d run around and make snow angels. And s was flooded with a sudden memory. She remembered when Larry had told her he’d never seen snow before joining VFD, having grown up mostly in the hinterlands. She wondered how he was doing as she finally came upon the postal office.

She walked in and scanned the area around her as she walked to the counter to get the mail that didn’t get sent to her mailbox. She got her mail and sifted through it as she walked back to the door.

Then she saw it, a letter, and a black envelope, sighed on the front with  ‘ Mary and Leanne’ the handwriting very clearly belonged to one of Larry’s mothers. She smiled softly, making her way down the street ‘what a pleasant surprise’ she thought to herself.

She waited until she was home to open it. Kicking the door closed with her foot and setting the mail down the table,  and quickly taking off her coat and hanging it up.

She snatched up the mail and went out to the living room, she sat down on the couch and got comfortable expecting a nice letter. She pried the stamp away from the paper, leaving a small tear, and took out the letter.

She unfolded it and started reading, her face gradually falling as she read the letter.

_ ‘Dear, Miss Jacquelyn, we are writing to inform you of Larry’s recent death.’  _ It was not as smooth and pleasant as it usually was, and neither was the handwriting that contained the terrible news. _ ‘We were told by a very kind young man, he said he knew you and Larry, his name was Ernest. He said it was an accident in the Kitchen.’  _ “accident my ass.” Jacquelyn muttered to herself. _ ‘We do hope you can find it in yourself to attend his funeral.’  _ Funeral. That word seemed so weird in its context. Larry’s funeral. It didn’t seem real, maybe that’s why she wasn’t crying yet, it must be a joke. He can’t possibly be dead. He  _ can’t  _ be.  _ It can’t be _ .

_ ‘We’re sure you miss him just as much as we do. We hope you will be able to write us back to let us know you’ll be here. We can understand if you can’t, we know you’re very busy in Winnipeg, but it would help very much if you could be there, thank you. _

_ ~ Love from, Leanne and Mary your-waiter’ _

Everything seemed slow. Things didn’t really quite settle in until tears were falling down her face, and her breath was picking up the pace, and the letter fell to the floor, dangerously close to the fireplace that didn’t seem very warming anymore.

When it did settle in, her mind went numb. The tears kept falling but she could barely even feel them. He’s dead. Gone. He’s not coming back. And there was nothing she could do now.

She  _ could’ve _ done something. But she didn’t. She could’ve been there. But she wasn’t. She didn’t even get to say goodbye to him. She had been swept off to Winnipeg before they could have a proper goodbye. She looked at the window, at the snow outside, and felt sick with grief. It was beautiful outside. Nothing should be beautiful right now. She was alone and stuck in Winnipeg.  Outside was beautiful, but inside the small house, she sat on the grey couch, staring at the grey floor and the grey letter, and grey everything.

Her mind was muddy and racing with a million thoughts a minute that she could barely even keep track. She stood from the couch, her legs shaking and wobbly, and walked to the desk in the corner, sitting down heavily. She opened the draw and took out a pencil and paper, and started writing.

_ ‘Dear, Mary and Leanne, I’m grieved by this news. The world could not be more cold without him, I will be at his funeral, I simply need the date and place. I miss him terribly, and If you’ll allow me to, I would like to say a few words of him there. He was an amazing man, and I have many pleasant memories of him that I have kept to myself all these years so selfishly, they deserve to be shared. Please get back to me as soon as you can. _

_ ~ Jacquelyn Scieszka’ _

She folded the paper and tucked it gently into a white envelope and sealed it with a stamp. She stood and made her way back to door, tugged on her boots and hat. And, with the letter gripped tightly in her hand, began the walk back to the post office.

**Author's Note:**

> Things I learned writing this: It's very hard to type when you're crying so much


End file.
